Gator Gulch
Location: Refugio, Texas Date: August 2, 1991 Story On August 2, 1991, eight-year-old Brandon Hughes and his five-year-old sister, Ashley, were visiting their aunt, Vernell Waldrop, in rural Refugio, Texas. That afternoon, they decided to swim in the Mission River, which flows behind Vernell's house, something they'd done countless times before. Ashley played on the dock, while Brandon swam across the river in his life vest, anxious to show off his swimming ability to Vernell. Next door, Chris and Bob Stapleton's dog barked at him from the back porch. Chris walked outside to hush it and noticed a log floating in the river toward Brandon. It took another second for her to realize that the log was actually an alligator. "Bob, get your gun!," yelled Chris to Bob who was indoors. "There's a gator got a kid out here!" Chris hollered to Vernell that there was an alligator in the water near Brandon. When she looked up from the dock where she was playing with Ashley, she saw Brandon thrashing around in the water. The alligator had clamped its massive jaw on his arm. He screamed for help, hit the alligator with his free hand, and kicked it with his feet, but he couldn't free himself. Vernell dove into the water and swam toward him. "If the gator was going to take Brandon," recalls Vernell, "he was going to have to take me with him, because I wasn't going to give up." Meanwhile, Bob ran down to the riverbank and aimed his rifle. He could not shoot the alligator yet without risking hitting Brandon. "All I could do was aim, get ready, and set," recalls Bob. As Vernell swam across the river, the alligator released Brandon's arm. He swam away, but it attacked again, this time locking its jaw onto his leg. He kicked and fought, but it repeatedly dragged him underwater. Suddenly, it released him for the second time. He swam toward Vernell. Bob fired and the alligator sank out of sight. Vernell reached Brandon, grabbed his life vest, and pulled him to the bank. Bob kept a watchful eye on the water and saw the alligator resurface. He fired again and it disappeared for good. "Aunt Vern, am I gonna die?" asked Brandon as Vernell took off his life vest. She explained that he was going to live and that she was going to take him to the hospital. She called the hospital to alert them she would be arriving with a victim of an alligator bite. The report of an alligator attack surprised the local game warden because as a rule, alligators are non-aggressive animals who do not attack unless they are cornered or are protecting their nest. Brandon was treated at the hospital for multiple puncture wounds to his leg and arm and was released the same night. "I'm proud of myself," says Brandon, "because I beat up an alligator." Chris believes that Brandon's life vest played a major role in his survival by keeping him from being dragged under the water. "If he hadn't had that life jacket on," says Chris, "he would have been in a world full of trouble." "I will never, ever, in my whole life get back in that river till I'm thirty-eight," said Brandon in conclusion. ﻿ Category:1991 Category:Texas Category:Animal Attacks